# Sir Walter Raleigh, for those who like sot-weed



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

From the wikipedia entry:
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Having been one of the people to popularise tobacco smoking in England, he left a small tobacco box, found in his cell shortly after his execution. Engraved upon the box was a Latin inscription: Comes meus fuit illo miserrimo tempo (It was my companion at that most miserable time).*[SUP]
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Having spent my first 11 years in the Old Dominion, Sir Walter came up a lot. Local history, and all that. School trips to Jamestown and Williamsburg, the mysterious Roanoke Island not so far away, and swashbuckling away at the movies in the guise of Errol Flynn. It would take some brass to call an inferior tobacco Sir Walter Raleigh, but, lucky for us, the tobacco is first class. My father's "big five" were Sir Walter Raleign, Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Half&Half and Edgeworth Ready-rubbed, a big open can of one of them on the desk and pouches of the others for carrying with him when he was out. (I don't remember him using a regular pouch, come to think of it.) It has been something of an epiphany smoking these old stand-byes, having gone the way of the way of the pretty tin for so many years. My father smoked a pipe incessantly, and I now realize he actually knew what he was doing. :doh:

The tobacco is chunky from the tub (I have no experience with the pouched version), like a chopped flake. It took me some time to realize that I had to "rub it out", harkening to that mysterious "ready-rubbed" on the Edgeworth can, that I could never make ANY sense of. Yes, to fully enjoy SWR, I had to "rub it" before it was "ready". This makes it somewhat more work than the match-fit Prince Albert, but it certainly pays dividends to get it into smaller pieces, otherwise it can be a trifle lumpy in the pack and require some relights and tamping. Rub it out and you're good to go. It will take to the flame and burn to completion. Not quite as easily as Prince Albert, but close. It seems to come a bit wetter than PA, too, at least out of the tub, so a little drying out doesn't hurt a thing.

The aroma is delicious. I smell chocolate, maybe some molasses, but my nose isn't trustworthy. It's a heavier Prince Albert-like smell, but dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate -- and no fruit. Prince Albert even has a raisin-like background, but a hint of alcohol lingers on the Sir Walter Raleigh. (I'd like to think SWR imbibed a few more pints than Prince Albert.) I'm from Virginia, so I'm going to be a bit biased and say SWR has a trace more nicotine than the mild-mannered, well-behaved Prince. Not much, not as much as one might expect from a sturdy burley like this, but a tinge. It smokes beautifully in a cob, which is not to say it doesn't perform well in any pipe, just to say that a cob is the ideal implement.

The snork on SWR is better than PA, not in the strength sense, rather in the flavor sense. SWR tastes remarkably like what it smells like in the can on the retrohale. Not that it doesn't taste like tobacco, first and foremost, but that chocolate liqueur background presents itself fairly deep into the smoke. All in all, so long as you rub it out, I'd have to say that Sir Walter Raleigh is the equal of Prince Albert. I find comfort in thinking that Sir Walter Raleigh would be not at all embarrassed by his namesake tobacco.


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## Kevin Keith (Jan 24, 2010)

Oh yeah...SWR definately is one of my absolute favorites...delicious aroma. This is the first tobacco I ever remember as a little boy and the first I ever smoked. Grandpa smoked PA and Uncle Jim (haha) smoked SWR,each was exclusive of _any_ other tobacco, but i don't remember them arguing about it...they both lived up to smoke what you like and like what you smoke. Great review Jim!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Kevin Keith said:


> Oh yeah...SWR definately is one of my absolute favorites...delicious aroma. This is the first tobacco I ever remember as a little boy and the first I ever smoked. Grandpa smoked PA and Uncle Jim (haha) smoked SWR,each was exclusive of _any_ other tobacco, but i don't remember them arguing about it...they both lived up to smoke what you like and like what you smoke. Great review Jim!


Thanks, Kevin! I'm liking it more and more!


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## mikebjrtx (May 21, 2012)

I've had a few bowls and enjoyed them, but I don't remember them clearly. gotta try it pre-beer next time. 
Ever try PA select blend? I think I like it just a bit more than the regular. Just hard to explain why I like it better


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

mikebjrtx said:


> I've had a few bowls and enjoyed them, but I don't remember them clearly. gotta try it pre-beer next time.
> Ever try PA select blend? I think I like it just a bit more than the regular. Just hard to explain why I like it better


PA Choice. Yes, I had some of that last year some time, but I think I like the regular better. Not a lot of difference for me, so I stick with the tub. Seems I recall you can't get PAC in a tub, not sure though.


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